Topics

Event types

The STARs program encompasses a broad range of events, including:

• Half-hour to one hour free lunchtime or evening brownbags
• Half-day to full day interactive workshops
• Multiple day intensive classes

We are always open to suggestions if you have a different structure in mind.

Our Process

Sustainable Seattle recruits experts to design and deliver classes about the material they know best, and we do all the logistical and marketing work to allow the instructor to focus on teaching.  The instructor has considerable freedom to choose the topics, format, content and timing of the class.

Our brownbags are always free events.  Longer classes charge participants a fee, and instructors receive a share of the proceeds.  This is what a typical class development schedule looks like:

1. Either we recruit an instructor or an instructor comes to us with an idea.
2. We meet the instructor to discuss roughly what the class will be about, trying to find the best possible intersection between Sustainable Seattle's areas of interest and the instructor's expertise.
3. The instructor chooses a format (e.g. one-day workshop), minimum/ideal/maximum group size and pricing for the class.  We will make suggestions, but the instructor has the final say on this.
4. The instructor gives us a range of available dates at least 3 months ahead.
5. We find and book a suitable venue based on the instructor's requirements and availability.
6. The instructor sends us a course description and a bio.
7. We make a course web page and one-page flyer, get the class listed in all relevant calendars and social media sites, and start marketing it to our contacts.
8. About one month before the class date, we check in with the instructor about registration so far and whether we need to do additional marketing.
9. If the instructor is bringing guest speakers in, we ask for a list of their names at least one month before the class.
10. If we will be printing materials, the instructor sends them to us two weeks before the class.
11. The day before the class, we send the instructor a list of who will be there and whatever background information we know about them (e.g. employer, job title).
12. During the class, at least one Sustainable Seattle staff member or volunteer is present at all times to manage any catering, A/V or registration needs, so that the instructor can focus completely on teaching.
13. At the end of the class we gather feedback from attendees.
14. In the week following the class, we thank attendees, share any additional information we have and follow up on any feedback that we are able to address.
15. If the class made money, we send the instructor his/her share of the net proceeds within a month of the class ending.

Guidelines

Here are some things we expect of STARs instructors:

Highly interactive instruction - students should be engaging with each other and the instructor, not just passively listening to a lecture.

Experience - teach what you have the most experience working with, because that's where you add the most value.

Further reading material - it's never possible to cover an entire topic in a class, so students should leave with pointers to where they can learn more.

Systems approach - none of the issues we are interested in can be meaningfully approached in isolation, so present and discuss the linkages between them.

Minimal paper - conveying information without handing every student a whole processed tree is an important part of walking the sustainability talk.  We can help you distribute notes and papers electronically, but please minimise the amount of physical material that's handed out.  You may find our list of instructor resources helpful for this.

Sharing material - we encourage (but do not require) instructors to place course notes in the public domain or under a Creative Commons licence, so that the public may benefit as much as possible from their existence.

Get in touch

If you are interested in developing and teaching a class for the STARs program, please contact the training program director, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  Send in a CV and answers to as much of this questionnaire as possible:

Name:
Qualifications:
Contact information:

Please provide a short (1-3 paragraphs) bio for us to use in class announcements:

What will be the title of your class?  ["working titles" are fine]

Please describe the subject area your class will cover, or list topics you will cover:

Which of the B-Sustainable goals do you feel your class best fits?  [see the table above - it's OK to pick several]

Who do you expect the audience to be?

What prior knowledge should people have before taking your class?

What format do you envisage this class taking (e.g. small group seminar; lecture; hands-on exercise; field work etc)?

What schedule do you think will work best (e.g. 1 evening; full day; 3 day class, etc)?

How soon do you think you could teach this class? [bear in mind that we normally need 3 months' lead time to market a class properly]

Do you have date preferences and/or blackout dates?

What is the maximum number of people you would be comfortable with in a class?

What would you consider the ideal group size?

What is the smallest group you would be willing to teach?

Will your class have any special A/V needs beyond a projector and screen?

Don't worry if you don't have answers to all of those questions yet - we can work out the details together.